Sacrifice
by stark-fire
Summary: One-shot. Episode 10. "Amon's thumb crashed against her forehead, her eyes shooting open, and pain filling her whole body. But she never in her life, felt stronger."


"Have you ever been in love, Mom?"

"I'm in love with a lot of things, Lin."

"I mean, with a guy."

"Is this about Tenzin?"

"Just answer the question."

"Yes."

"Did you ever love again?"

"I never stopped."

-o-o-o-o-

There's a crack of a metal whip. The net is sliced to pieces in midair, falling defeated downward towards the bay. Lin stands, her back to the air bending family as she looked forward towards the oncoming Equalist air ships, and they were gaining ground—fast. Tenzin had asked her to protect his family, and that's what she intended to do. She was going to protect them with everything she had.

She looked back at the small family made whole by a little bundle of brown haired laughter sitting tucked in Pema's arms. Pema had always been beautiful, in an ordinary sort of way. At first it killed Lin to see Tenzin running off with her, but who could blame him? This woman, this non-bender, had given him the most beautiful family. She gave but never asked, helped but never harbored, and she stood like a rock against Tenzin's free nature. Lin remembered a time when she would have done anything to be that.

Tenzin loved Pema differently than he had loved her all those years ago. Years ago when Lin believed that Tenzin was going to be the one to hold her at night when she didn't feel like being strong, ask her to bear his children, and love her when she couldn't love herself. She had loved him so much, as much as she was capable. Then came this doe-eyed beautiful non-bender with a sharp wit and gentle heart. All it took was one confession and Tenzin fell from Lin's grasp like a sack of cabbages. Suddenly Pema had the man who was supposed to be Lin's.

And the hatred she held for Pema was unfathomable.

But that's the way life worked, Lin realized. Years of bitter feelings and an icy heart had finally seen the truth. The truth that sometimes the one you love won't love you back, and sometimes they'll fall in love with someone else. But Lin never stopped, no, she never stopped loving Tenzin. She never stopped remembering the way they raced through the streets of Republic City, hyped up on teenage rebellion, and the way he taught her how to dance one night in the city square, or the night when Katara caught them kissing under the archway of the air temple. It was the little things she'd never forget about him, those little things that seemed to thaw her heart at the mere thought.

And it still hurt, looking at them. Especially that kid, the green-eyed baby who was laughing at absolutely nothing. If Lin closed her eyes she could imagine herself holding the child, she would name him something strong. Something that would make him feel like he belonged in this family of fighters. Her own son. He would be her and Tenzin's son. The family she always wanted, and the family she would never get.

She took one last glance backwards, her mind made up. She loved Tenzin enough that she would do anything for him, and doing anything for him meant doing anything for his happiness. The painful truth was, these beautiful kids belonged to him and his wife, and they were what made him happier—happier than anything in the world. It was all Lin could do now, assure his happiness.

Watch him love another woman, because she loved him.

"Whatever happens," She called back, "Don't turn back!"

"Lin! What are you doing?" She heard Tenzin scream from behind her as she clung onto the broken arm of the net, swinging her body onto the pursuing airship, leaving Oogi and the family of air benders behind her.

-o-o-o-o-

"Tell me where the Avatar is, and I'll let you keep your bending." Amon crooned, his masked face staring daggers down at her disheveled face.

Her hands were bound in front of her, her body still weak from the electric shock but her mind completely aware of what was happened. No matter what information she did or didn't give him, she was going to lose her bending. There was no way out of it. This was the end.

But she had learned long ago that you could never really lose anything. Her mother never really lost her vision, she just saw differently than others. Just like she would never really lose Tenzin's love, she just had to learn to love him differently.

After all, this was all for him.

"I won't tell you anything, you monster!" She barked, his feet quick to circle around her. She felt his thumb press deeply into the back of her neck, her head tilted back.

She closed her eyes, and thought of him. She hoped he had gotten the family somewhere safe, that Pema was safely tucked away with the new baby and the children, and that Tenzin no longer had to be neither scared for them nor helpless in the fight. She wondered if he ever thought about her, or if he was even thinking about her now.

Amon's thumb crashed against her forehead, her eyes shooting open, and pain filling her whole body. But she never in her life, felt stronger.

-o-o-o-o-

"Why do you ask?"

"I'm just curious."

"You know Twinkle Toe's son is an idiot for breaking up with you."

"Yeah, thanks Mom."

"Did you love him, Lin?"

"For some reason—I feel like I'll never stop."

* * *

**A/N: **Hey guys! I was actually working on a few other Makorra/Borra fics but after watching the last episode of LoK, I really wanted to write this short little one-shot for you guys kind of exploring Lin's emotional side and what was going through her head. Thanks so much for reading, it really means a lot to me that you'd even click on one of my stories. Reviews are lovely and I'll have a new story posted soon!


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